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Kent State Ashtabula’s AITP Club Wins at Conference

The Kent State University at Ashtabula Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) student group continued its run of success by taking home several honors, including Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year, at the recent AITP National Collegiate Conference in Atlanta.

reMesh, founded by Andrew Konya, a
chemical physics Ph.D. candidate in Kent
State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute®,
was one of 12 select software startups
accepted into this year’s Flashstarts
accelerator program. Flashstarts is a
Cleveland-based startup accelerator
and venture fund.

Flashstarts, the Cleveland-based startup accelerator and venture fund, announced that reMesh, a Blackstone LaunchPad company founded by Andrew Konya, a chemical physics Ph.D. candidate in Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute®, was one of 12 select software startups accepted into this year’s accelerator program.

reMesh offers a community, group, nation or planet of people the ability to speak with one voice; a voice that represents the collective thinking of all people within the group. As a member of Flashstarts, Konya and co-founder Aaron Slodov, an engineering Ph.D. student at Case Western Reserve University and former Google engineer, will receive a $25,000 investment to further the building of their business and will have access to Flashstarts’ management team and guidance, as well as the support from up to 20 interns.

"Andrew and Aaron's innovation offers a groundbreaking opportunity to effectively harness true collective human intelligence," says Flashstarts co-founder and CEO Charles Stack. "reMesh enables groups of people to engage in real-time conversations with individuals or other groups utilizing a single voice--with the help of some nearly incomprehensible fancy math and the clever application of modern technology. These 'crowdversations' have application in international relations, politics, marketing and many other uses just waiting to be imagined."

"I dream of a world where conflicts are resolved by conversations, not wars; where people do not pay for the mistakes of their governing officials and where humanities' collective wisdom is used to make life better for us all,” says Konya. “Explosive advancements in technology over the past decade have made this world a possibility, and I am humbled and excited for the opportunity to make this world a reality through reMesh."

The announcement of reMesh into this year’s Flashstarts class comes on the heels of a $25,000 Innovation Fund award the company received last November. At the end of the 12-week Flashstarts summer program, reMesh will be eligible for follow-on investments of up to $500,000.

Kent State’s Blackstone LaunchPad promotes entrepreneurship as a viable career path. Through mentoring, workshops and events, and connecting entrepreneurs to resources, Blackstone LaunchPad helps Kent State students, faculty, staff and alumni to create new startups or grow existing businesses in Northeast Ohio. For more information about the Blackstone LaunchPad program, visit www.kent.edu/blackstonelaunchpad.

Flashstarts is a Cleveland-based business startup accelerator and venture fund focused on unique and innovative uses of software and technology. Startups benefit from Flashstarts’ executive team’s deep expertise in enterprise and healthcare IT, gigabit fiber applications, mobile and digital publishing and media. Flashstarts’ rigorous 12-week summer accelerator program is powered by rapid cycles of feedback and iteration, customized guidance from dedicated coaches, an extensive network of top-tier, experienced mentors and an award-winning intern program. For more information, visit www.flashstarts.com.